Monday, August 27, 2007

Eruption were an obscure krautrock legend operating on the Berlin underground in parallel to MkI TANGERINE DREAM and KLUSTER. Created at the Zodiac Club as a project of sound engineer Klaus Freudigmann, they existed for a little more than one year and at their peak they featured the all-star line-up of Freudigmann, Conrad Schnitzler, Lutz Ulbrich, Michael Gunther (both AGITATION FREE), Dieter Serfas (EMBRYO), Klaus Schulze, Manuel Goettsching and Hartmut Enke (that later become the ASH RA TEMPEL trio).

Up till now, their only documented recording is a 1970 studio session of an early line-up of the band as a trio of Freudigmann, Schnitzler and Wolfgang Siedel, unearthed by the Italian Qbico label. Sitting between a more experimental early TANGERINE DREAM solitary cosmic styling and an aggressive electronic cacophony full of free-form ethos, the trio moves through ring modulated percussives, echoed violin, cascading guitar textures and distorted vocals in a tortured journey to collapsing post-war german urban landscapes.

Upon the split of this extraordinary project Siedel went on with Schnitzler as CONSEQUENZ and then in TON STEINE SCHERBEN, while Conrad went on a glorious solo career and Freudigmann continued active as a studio owner, album producer and occasional musician.

A ridiculously limited 2005 LP edition, already sold out. Get it here.

Hi, this blog is always amazing, but I like to add some correction: Wolfgang Seidel just left TON STEINE SCHERBEN before he worked together with Schnitzler and Freudigmann in this short lived format. Nowadays Wolfgang Seidel still performs Conrad Schnitzlers Concerts for Cassette Players as well as he is still working with his experimental free form outfit POPULAERE MECHANIK. Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/freeartslabKeep on the good work!

Thanks for posting this. I own this LP actually, but the beautiful quiet piece at the end of Side 2 is marred by a pressing defect. This is why I often resent the whole exclusive vinyl reissue scene...I suppose not many here will share my feelings, but labels like QBICO and Vinyl on Demand make available some great archival sounds, then the pressings are often mediocre in quality and of course always limited-run. This to me seems like a way to bilk the hardcore fans of cash, when the labels could have just as well issued the material on CD at a lower premium. Several of these releases I've bought have defects like pops, crackle and actual scratches. Sure, vinyl sounds better in some ways, and it's "cooler" to own, but when preserving exceptional archival rarities like this one, wouldn't you rather have an exact-as-possible document of the original recordings? Anyway, thanks as always for posting--sorry to rant.

I will completely agree that Qbico's pressing on this one doesn't do the album justice, as there is much unwanted surface noise within the music. As you verify the fact, I now strongly believe that the source is an acetate and not a tape...

Interesting theory about the source being an acetate; it would explain the overall quality. However, my copy of the vinyl has a bad defect during Track 7 where yours does not....nice to have an alternate rip regardless, thanks.

Dear Wmmberger, all copies of the LP have the same pressing defect (a large scratch on the 2nd side that spans for about 2 mins). It took me about 4 hours to clean it for the purpose of uploading it to the blog without any considerable audible deterioration...

@wmmberger,All things being equal, vinyl is the better storage medium than CDs when it comes to archiving. While compact discs handle direct exposure to sunlight better and attract dust noticeably less than vinyl, they are much more prone to scratching but more importantly they are prone to bronzing and rot, due to oxidation. It is being predicted that most commercially-produced CDs life-spans are less than that of an average human. Besides, the playback devices of vinyl records have a proven commercial and archival life-span whereas production of all but the most high-end compact disc players seem to be disappearing rather quickly, so that the CD seems on the path to being relegated to the status of where the cassette is (aka audio recording medium of choice in the developed world).

Psychic TV (sometimes spelt Psychick TV) or PTV, is primarily an electronic music group that occasionally forays into psychedelic, punk and ...

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As for the time being i'm searching for resource material i would appreciate any scans or photocopies of late 70's/early 80s fanzines on experimental/industrial/punk/DIY stuff.Especially i would appreciate photocopied issues of:AURA,FACE OUT,FOOLS MATE(******) NEWSTYLE(esp.Nr 10)ATEM magazine,AUDION magazine,Grohinga Well(or something like that,Belgian magazine).If you can provide any of this stuff please contact me.